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1/35 More plagiarism, misuse of sources and flawed argumentation in âAbraham Fulfilled: A Biblical Study of Godâs Plan for Ishmael and Arabiaâ? (Sapience Publishing 2024). By @AbuZakariyaMPOM, @MrAdnanRashid and @ZakirHussainMDI. Read on and judge for yourself.
2/35 The authorsâ claim seems to be that Mt. Paran in Deut. 33:2 is a reference to âWestern Saudi Arabiaâ (p. 86) and ultimately âMecca, birth place [sic] of Muhammadâ (p. 90). Below Iâll take a look at the sources on. p. 82-84 of the book.
3/35 The authors further state that: âWhile biblical geographers differ as to the exact location of Paran, they are, however, unanimous that Paran is located somewhere within Arabiaâ (p. 82) and that based on sources presented on p. 83-84 itâs in the âArabian Peninsulaâ (p. 84).
4/35 Sure, if we define âArabiaâ and âthe Arabian Peninsulaâ broadly to include both the Roman province of Arabia Petraea, which encompassed the Sinai Peninsula, the northwestern corner of modern Saudi Arabia and parts of modern Jordan and IsraelâŚ
5/35 and Arabia Deserta, covering much of present-day Saudi Arabia, then there is no dispute among the âbiblical geographersâ cited, that both Ishmaelâs Paran of Gn. 21:21 and Mt. Paran of Deut. 33:2 can be located within this âArabiaâ.
6/35 However, as none of the âbiblical geographersâ mentioned, i.e., Clarke, Strong and Cheyne (pp. 82-83) place Mt. Paran in âWestern Saudi Arabiaâ, what exactly does it prove that they thought it was in âArabiaâ?
7/35 Moreover, Iâd like to point out, however, that *none* of the sources cited on pp. 82-84 place Paran of Gn. 21:21 and Deut. 33:2 anywhere near Mecca and none of the sources, except one, place it in the Hijaz, albeit although in the *northwestern* corner.
8/35 Thus, if one is so inclined one could also, from the sources presented by the authors themselves, tongue in cheek, frame it as follows: âWhile biblical geographers differ as to the exact location of Paran, they are, however, unanimous that Paran is not located near Meccaâ.
9/35 So, what exactly does it prove for âAbraham Fulfilledâ, that some scholars have proposed the *northwestern* corner of the Hijaz as a possible location for Mt. Paran of Deut. 33:2? Weâre never told. The remaining âbiblical geographerâ, Sebeos âquotedâ on p. 83 is IMHO,âŚ
10/35 not only irrelevant, but I also believe the wording in âAbraham Fulfilledâ as well as the source reference was copied more or less from Wikipedia, without the authors having actually looked it up. Compare Wiki on the left and âAbraham Fulfilledâ on the right.
11/35. When you look up this âquoteâ in the sources provided by Wikipedia and Abraham Fulfilled, it isnât found there. What is found specifically on p. 96 of âThe Armenian Historyâ is the following:
12/35 Thus, there can be little doubt, IMHO, that the authors of âAbraham Fulfilledâ not only copied verbatim from Wiki, from the word âdescribingâ, but also that they did not actually look up the source. Had they done so they might have considered this source to be completelyâŚ
13/35 irrelevant in terms of âbiblical geographyâ as this source isnât trying to do âbiblical geographyâ in any historical and scientific sense, but rather seems to be simply casting contemporary history through the lens of the Bible (cf. Gn. 21:21, 25:18 Jub. 20:11-13).
14/35 On p. 83 the authors claim that âAnother evidence that Paran is in Arabia is the fact that Ishmael himself has been associated with Arabia in early Jewish and Christian sources that pre-date Islamâ. On pp. 83-84 the authors give five such sources.
15/35 *All* sources from antiquity that follow are also given in Carol Bakhosâ book, âIshmael on the Border: Rabbinic Portrayals of the First Arabâ,(Albany: State University of New York Press 2006). Did âAbraham Fulfilledâ lift from Bakhos book?
16/35 On p. 149, Bakhos states that: âAll translations of rabbinic and Islamic textsâ are her own.
17/35 The first two rabbinic texts quoted by âAbraham Fulfilledâ on pp. 83-84 are given in a translation that is identical to that given in Bakhos on pp. 69-70. Compare the original translation of Bakhos on the left, with those of Abraham Fulfilled on the right.
18/35 The next text given by âAbraham Fulfilledâ on p. 84, Josephus, is also given by Bakhos on p. 74. However, when one checks the source, âAbraham Fulfilledâ has a small mistake also found in Bakhos Loebâs quote (correct âcircumcisedâ, incorrect: âcircumciseâ). Coincidence?
19/35 Thus, IMHO there can be little doubt that that the authors of âAbraham Fulfilledâ lifted these three texts in translation from Bakhos, without as much as referencing her discussion.
20/35 The next text mentioned by Abraham Fulfilled on p. 84 is âSozomenusâ. He is also mentioned by Bakhos and on p. 95 and 166 footnote 29, Bakhos specifically notes the below and references the article, by U. Rubin.
